NJ Assembly committee: 20 subpoenas expected in GWB scandal

The Assembly committee investigating the George Washington Bridge scandal plans to subpoena 17 people and three organizations mostly for documents, the chairman of the newly created committee said today.

Assemblyman John Wisniewski declined to say who the people and the organizations are.

"What we are asking for first is material and documents before we ask for testimony," Wisniewski said.

Both the Senate and Assembly created special committees to investigate the George Washington Bridge controversy in unanimous votes today.

Each committee will have subpoena power and each will have special counsel.

The Senate panel will be led by state Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck. Wisniewski, D-Middlesex, will lead the Assembly panel.

The Assembly’s committee met this afternoon -- first in public session, and then behind closed-doors to talk about whom the committee will subpoena.

Much of the committee’s authority will lie with Wisniewski. Republicans voiced their frustration that they will not be included sufficiently in the process, have access to the newly hired attorney, or be provided with documents before they are given to the press.

A Republican proposal to amend the resolution, which would have provided them with more access to proceedings, was rejected in a party-line vote.

The committee moved into executive session to discuss which subpoenas will be issued – about 10 to 20 are expected, according to a Democratic spokesperson. They may not be announced today, however, because Wisniewski said he wanted those being issued to see the subpoenas before the public is notified.

Weinberg said she had hoped for a joint investigative committee with the Assembly, but that body did not agree to cooperatively form a panel. She and Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, promised the two chambers would work together to avoid duplicated each other’s actions.

Republicans, though, have raised concerns about added costs. Each committee will hire a special counsel to assist their investigations.

Weinberg said she plans to issue subpoenas from her committee in the next few days. The Assembly committee is expected to issue several subpoenas later today.

Republicans today said they were unhappy that documents obtained through Assembly subpoenas earlier this month were given to the press before the minority party was allowed to view them.

They also questioned why the committees were only investigating the September lane closures at the George Washington Bridge and not other situations that, they said, constituted abuses of power. Senate Republicans specifically mentioned Golan Cipel, the Israeli appointed by former Democratic Gov. James E. McGreevey to lead the state’s homeland security efforts. McGreevey later resigned after acknowledging an extramarital romantic relationship with Cipel.

After the Senate vote this afternoon, Sweeney announced the other Democratic members on the Senate committee: Nicholas Scutari, who represents Union County; Nia Gill, of Montclair; and Linda Greenstein, of Mercer County.

Republicans selected Gerald Cardinale, who represents Demarest; Kevin O’Toole, of Cedar Grove; and Michael Doherty, of Warren County. O’Toole is considered a close ally of Governor Christie, who pushed late last year for O’Toole to become leader of the Senate Republicans.

The Senate voted 33-0 to approve the measure creating the special committee. The panel is expected to name a special counsel within one or two days. The Assembly approved its special committee in a 75-0 vote.

The Assembly committee announced yesterday it had hired Reid Schar, a former federal prosecutor who convicted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on corruption charges.